Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-16
IRRIGATION.
The West is Turning to Irrigation as
the Solution OF the Question
Raised by the DrOuth.
What Tom Green County Has Done and Is
Doing, and What MarIn County
Is Debating.
san Angelo Record.

a description OF San Angelo and the
surrounding country would scarcely be
complete without mention of the extern
siye irrigation enterprises in the valleys
of the Conchos and their numerous
tributaries, which bid fair at no distant
time to become large item in the total
wealth of eastern Tom Green county.
Irrigation of land, for producing or in
creasing its fertility, is Of great antiquity
1t was largely pTactiCed in Egypt 1000
years before the Christian era, and with
its aid the great valley Of the Nile was
probably the most productive section
upon the then civilized globe. 1t has also
been extensively carried on for hundreds
of years in many parts Of the east and in
Southern Europe, where il has caused an
amazing increase in the prOduCtiveness
and value of the land. Indeed, it is a
matter OF statistics, that the most dense
~ populated farming sections in the
world are at points were irrigation is
pr8CtiCed, which goes to show that it sup
ports q greater population per acre than
any other system of farming.
The popular idea of irrigation is that it
is only desirable and useful IN almost
rainleSs countries as an entire substitute
for the natural rainfall. Such doubtless
was the origin of the practice, but the eX-
peTienCe Of centuries mas taught that it Is
almost equally valuable in sections Of
sufficient average rainfall to generally
produce good crops a fertilizer of the
SOL and a. an insurance against the par
tial failure OF the crop, owing to OcCa-
sIOnal drOuthy seasons. Nowhere does
the rainfall, however abundant, always
come Just in the time Of most need for
81. 1
be to be able to control the clouds. For
tunate Is he who IS so far independent OF
theiweather that though morn after morn
breaks with clear and T2ineSs SKY, he
still has the the assurance of s full har-
vest and ample returns for his labor
Thus We see that irrigation as g fertilizer
of the soil and as an insurance against
lack of sufficient rainfall is of almost in
valuable seTviCetO the farmer, and such
it has proved in this section.
he extended drOUth throughout Texas
the past year, from which Tom Green
county was not exempt, was very disas-
trOus to the farmers dependent upon the
natural rainfall, but rhe harVesUs from our
irrigated farms were even more plentiful
than usual.
Where the water is available what
cheaper insurance can the farmer have
against the partial or total failure of his
crop? There may be many seasons when
irrigation will be almost totally unneces-
sarY to secure an abundant harvest, but
the total cost of putting tie land under
ditch would probably be more than re
paid by the first crop gathered in fall,
which might otherwise have been q fail
Ure for lack of little rain at the proper
time.
few words as to the methods and
cost of irrigating may be of some interest.
The COnChO river and its tributaries
have an average fall OF from fifteen TO
twenty feet to the mile, and q low dam
(frOm five to ten feet) aud short ditch
SAY from One-haf to one mile long is
usually sufficient to throw the water
upon the lands desired to be irrigated.
Under ordinary circumstances the cost OF
a dam and bitches to irTIgate from 800 to
400 acres, should not exceed, say, 81 an
acre. OF course, the smaller the acreage
irrigated the greater will be the cost per
acre, and the greater the acreage the less
the per acre costs.
The quantity of water necessary to
irrigate given quantity of land during
the dTyest season varies with the nature
of the soil and character of the crop, and
is still somewhat matter of experiment.
For $50 to 800 acres it is estimated that
stream of water running two and one
half cubic feet per second would be am
pie. This is about the quantity of water
that would be discharged from often
over wier or waterway ,hree feet wide,
with q head of about five inches.
When no rain falls the lands are iTri-
gated at intervals of from fifteen to
twenty-five days. With proper supply
of water two men eau thoroughly irri-
gate from twenty TO twenty four acres in /
3 day and night, or about one aCre an
hour.
Good Mexican laborers, practical in all
the details of irrigation, are plentiful at
81 per day, or SIS per month with
board.
Fenced irrigable lands, with dams and
bitches complete, together with the water
privilege, are held at from S25 to $50 per
acre, and rent for from St to $40 per
acre cash rental, or One-thrd of the crop;
the renter in both cases making all Ordin-
ary repairs in dams and bitches.
The principal crops raised and their
present market value, are as follows:
Corn, 50 cents per bushel; beans, 50 per
bushel; oats, 20 cents per bushel; wheat, !
80 cents per bushel; sweet potatoes, 81 |
per bushel millet, SIC TO SIS per ton; |
alfalfa, SIS per ton, and many varieties
of fruits, all of which find q ready home |
market. Alfalfa is cut from four to six !
times in the year, and many of the lands /
raise two crops q season year after year |
without lessening their fertility.
1t is some thirteen to fifteen years since !
the first irrigated farms were opened in .
this vicinity. The pioneers were r. F.
Tankersley, Colonel f. C. Taylor and the
DeLong Brothers. Within the last few
years many new Citches have been taken
out with good profits to the owner.
Among some OF the principal bitches
within twenty-five miles of San Angelo,
we would mention r. f. Tankersiey's
6O0-scre farm on Spring creek, and. the
extensive Lsckey ana Mcdonald bitches
st Sherwood; StiJson's 40O-acre farm,
now being sill put INTO alfalfa; the JOINT )
farms Of the San Jose Irrigation and